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Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 was written in 1804–08. The symphony is one of the most often-played orchestral works of its length and is one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of European classical music. It is in the usual four movements: an opening sonata allegro, an andante, and a fast scherzo which leads into the finale.

The work was first performed at the "Akademie" in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna in 1808, and achieved its prodigious reputation soon afterwards. At the time, E.T.A. Hoffmann described the symphony as "one of the most important works of the age."

It begins by stating a distinctive four-note motif twice:

The symphony, and the 4-note opening motif in particular, have become very well-known worldwide. As a result, it has resurfaced numerous times in popular culture, from new renditions in other genres, such as disco and rock and roll, to appearances in film and television.

History

Composition

The first sketches for the Fifth Symphony date back as early as 1800 and 1801. Following the completion in 1804 of his 3rd Symphony (Eroica), Beethoven began to make fragmentary sketches on the "C-minor symphony", which is today known as the 5th. Work on it continued off and on over the course of four years of tumultuous social and political strife, while Beethoven also composed several other works.

In 1805, while Napoleon was occupying Vienna, Beethoven interrupted work on the symphony and composed his opera Leonore, his Appassionata Piano Sonata Op. 57, and the three Razumovsky string quartets (op. 59), then went back to work on the "C-minor symphony". At the end of that year, Napoleon and Austria signed a treaty dissolving the Holy Roman Empire, of which Austria had been a part. As a result, the modern Austrian Empire was created.

Beethoven again interrupted work on the symphony in 1806. He revised his Leonore opera, composing the Leonore Overture No. 3 for it, the Violin Concerto, and the 4th Symphony (in Bb). Through 1807, he composed the 4th Piano Concerto (in G—his 3rd Concerto had been written in 1800), the Mass in C, the Overture to Coriolan, another overture for Leonore (Leonore Overture No. 1), and the 3rd Cello Sonata (op. 69).

The Fifth Symphony "was fully sketched in the winter of 1806–1807 or somewhat later. It was written out in the latter half of 1807 and during the first months of 1808 and was completed by the spring of that year" . During and immediately after that period, possibly as a catharsis, Beethoven also composed his 6th (Pastorale) Symphony.

Because of the length of time it took for Beethoven to compose the 5th Symphony, its proper chronological place in Beethoven's output (relative to his other works) is often unclear.

Premiere

The Fifth Symphony was premiered on December 22, 1808 at the "Akademie", a mammoth concert at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna consisting entirely of Beethoven premieres, and directed by Beethoven himself. The program was as follows:

• the Sixth Symphony
• Aria: "Ah, perfido", Op. 65
• The Gloria movement of the Mass in C Major
• the Fourth Piano Concerto (played by Beethoven himself)
• (intermission)
• the Fifth Symphony
• the Sanctus and Benedictus movements of the C Major Mass
• the Choral Fantasy

The performance took more than four hours.

The two symphonies appeared on the program numbered in the reverse of the order by which we know them today: the fifth was numbered six, and the Sixth appeared as number five.

Beethoven dedicated the symphony to two of his patrons, Prince Lobkowitz and Count Rasumovsky. The dedication appeared in the first printed edition from April 1809.

Reception and influence

There was little critical response of any sort to the premiere performance, which took place under very adverse conditions. The orchestra did not play well (they had only one rehearsal before the concert), and at one point following a mistake by one of the performers in the Choral Fantasy, Beethoven had to stop the music and begin again. In addition, the auditorium was extremely cold, and the audience was exhausted by the length of the program.

However, a year and a half later, another performance resulted in a rapturous review by E.T.A. Hoffmann in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung. He described the music with dramatic imagery, writing:

Radiant beams shoot through the deep night of this region, and we become aware of gigantic shadows which, rocking back and forth, close in on us and destroy all within us except the pain of endless longing—a longing in which every pleasure that rose up amid jubilant tones sinks and succumbs. Only through this pain, which, while consuming but not destroying love, hope, and joy, tries to burst our breasts with a full-voiced general cry from all the passions, do we live on and are captivated beholders of the spirits.(Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, July 1810)

The symphony soon acquired its status as a central item in the repertoire. As a kind of emblem of the classical music enterprise, it was played in the concerts that inaugurated the New York Philharmonic on December 7, 1842, and the National Symphony Orchestra on November 2, 1931.

Groundbreaking both in terms of its technical and emotional impact, the Fifth Symphony has had a large influence on composers and music critics, and inspired work by such composers as Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Mahler, and Hector Berlioz . "Every significant symphony since has been written under the influence of this achievement or in reaction against it"

The symphony stands with the Third Symphony and Ninth Symphony as the most revolutionary of Beethoven's symphonies, and, indeed, of all his compositions.

The "fate" motif

The initial motif of the symphony has sometimes been credited with symbolic significance as a representation of Fate knocking at the door. This idea comes from Beethoven's secretary and factotum Anton Schindler, who wrote, many years after Beethoven's death:

Den Schlüssel zu diesen Tiefen gab dessen Schöpfer selber, als er eines Tages mit dem Verfasser über die demselben zu Grunde liegende Idee sprach, mit den Worten: So pocht das Schiksal an die Pforte, indem er auf den Anfang des ersten Satzes hinwies.

The composer himself provided the key to these depths when one day, in this author's presence, he pointed to the beginning of the first movement and expressed in these words the fundamental idea of his work: "Thus Fate knocks at the door!"

Schindler's testimony concerning any point of Beethoven's life is disparaged by experts (he is believed to have forged entries in Beethoven's conversation books) . Moreover, it is often commented that Schindler offered a highly romanticized view of the composer. Thus, although we cannot know whether Schindler actually fabricated this quotation, it seems a strong possibility.

There is another tale concerning the same motif; the version given here is from Antony Hopkins's description of the symphony (see References below). Karl Czerny (Beethoven's pupil, who premiered the "Emperor" Concerto) claimed that "the little pattern of notes had come to from a yellow-hammer's song, heard as he walked in the Prater-park in Vienna." Hopkins further remarks that "given the choice between a yellow-hammer and Fate-at-the-door the public has preferred the more dramatic myth, though Czerny's account is too unlikely to have been invented."

Evaluations of these interpretations tend to be skeptical. "The popular legend that Beethoven intended this grand exordium of the symphony to suggest 'Fate Knocking at the gate' is apocryphal; Beethoven's pupil, Ferdinand Ries, was really author of this would-be poetic exegesi, which Beethoven received very sarcastically when Ries imparted it to him." Elizabeth Schwarm Glesner remarks that "Beethoven had been known to say nearly anything to relieve himself of questioning pests"; this might be taken to impugn both tales.

But regardless of the merits of these accounts, the motif sets the tone for the entire symphony, not just the first movement. In its rhythmic form, the short-short-short-long pattern of the motif recurs in each succeeding movement, providing a unifying element for the composition. This pattern is often featured quite prominently, for example in the third movement where the main theme from the horns starts with the same rhythmic sequence.

Form

The work is in four movements:

I. Allegro con brio

II. Andante con moto

III. Scherzo. Allegro

IV. Allegro

The first three movements are scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B-flat, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and the usual string section of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. The fourth movement adds a piccolo, a contrabassoon and three trombones (alto, tenor and bass).

A performance of the work lasts about 35 minutes.

Key

The key of the Fifth Symphony, C minor, is commonly regarded as a special key for Beethoven. Commentators opine that for Beethoven this key represents a "stormy, heroic tonality" ; that he uses it for "works of unusual intensity" or that it is "reserved for his most dramatic music" .

Several other Beethoven works in C minor illustrate this point, including the Piano sonata, Opus 10 no. 1 (1795–98), the Piano sonata, Opus 13, "Pathetique" (1798), the Eroica Symphony's second "Funeral March" movement (1803), and the Piano sonata, Op. 111 (1822).

First movement

The first movement opens with the four-note motif discussed above, one of the most famous in western music. The motif is repeated in various forms throughout the symphony and unites it thematically.

"There is considerable debate among conductors as to the manner of playing these four opening measures. Some take them in strict allegro tempo, like the rest of the movements; others take the liberty of playing them in a much slower and more stately tempo; others again take the three G's and the F's 'molto ritardano' arguing that ... the holds over the E-flat and D do (at least tacitly) authorize ritardandos on the three flats and three F's"

Although the movement evokes an emotional storm of unprecedented intensity, in its musical form it is traditional, being in orthodox sonata form, the traditional mold for symphonic first movements that Beethoven inherited from his predecessors Haydn and Mozart.

Following the first four bars, a peculiar theme is developed—peculiar in that it is composed of "nothing but free contrapuntal imitations on the figure in the introductory bars; but these imitations follow one upon the other with such rhythmic regularity that, to the ear, they form several successive sections and phrases of a regularly constructed melody." Shortly thereafter, a second theme is developed using horns, a melodic extension of the first theme using horns. Following a brief contrapuntal elaboration, the theme dies out in a "characteristical Beethoven moment of exhaustion", at which point the first theme reasserts itself in fortissimo.

The movement includes a recitative for solo oboe just after the start of the recapitulation section, and a massive coda.

Second movement

The second movement, in A-flat major, is a lyrical work in theme and variations form in rondo, with two alternating themes and a long coda. This relatively relaxed and confident sequence is a respite from the darkness of the first movement.

The choice of A-flat major to follow a movement in C minor, was a common technique of Beethoven's. He used it in both his "Pathetique" Sonata and 6th Violin Sonata (Opus 30, No. 1).

It opens with an announcement of its theme, a melody in unison by violas, cellos, and double basses. A second theme soon follows, with a harmony provided by clarinets, bassoons, violins, with a triplet arpeggio in the violas and bass. A variation first theme reasserts itself. This is followed up by a third theme, thirty-second notes in the violas and cellos with a counterphase running in the flute, oboe and bassoon. Following an interlude, the whole orchestra participates in a fortissimo, leading to a series of crescendos, and a coda to close the movement.

Third movement

The third movement is in ternary form, consisting of a scherzo and trio. It follows the traditional mold of Classical-era symphonic third movements, containing in sequence the main scherzo, a contrasting trio section, a return of the scherzo, and a coda. (For further discussion of this form, see "Textual questions", below.)

The movement returns to the opening key of C minor and begins with the following theme, played by the cellos and double basses:

The composer and writer on music Antony Hopkins has pointed out that this theme has the same sequence of pitches (though in a different key and range) as the opening theme of the final movement of Mozart's famous Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550. Here is Mozart's theme:

While such resemblances sometimes occur by accident, this is unlikely to be so in the present case. In the earliest sketchbook used by Beethoven for composing the Fifth Symphony appear 29 measures of Mozart's finale, copied out by Beethoven.

The opening theme is answered by a contrasting theme played by the winds, and this sequence is repeated. Then the horns loudly announce the main theme of the movement, and the music proceeds from there.

The trio section is in C major and is written in a contrapuntal texture. When the scherzo returns for the final time, it is performed by the strings pizzicato and very quietly.

In the final coda, the music drops to a whisper before slowly building in a huge crescendo and transitioning without interruption to the fourth movement. This final passage takes the music from C minor to the C major of the finale. (Beethoven had tried a similar key change from B flat minor to B flat major at the opening of his Symphony No. 4.)

"The scherzo offers contrasts that are somewhat similar to those of the slow movement in that they derive from extreme difference in character between scherzo and trio ... The Scherzo then contrasts this figure with the famous 'motto' (3+1) from the first movement, which gradually takes command of the whole movement."

Fourth movement

The triumphant and exhilarating finale begins without interruption after the scherzo. It is written in an unusual variant of sonata form: at the end of the development section, the music halts on a dominant cadence, played fortissimo, and the music continues after a pause with a quiet reprise of the "horn theme" of the scherzo movement. The recapitulation is then introduced by a crescendo coming out of the last bars of the interpolated scherzo section, just as the same music was introduced at the opening of the movement.

In this movement, Beethoven used both the trombone (formerly mainly used in opera) and the piccolo for the first time in a symphony. Both instruments were to become part of the standard symphony orchestra later in the 19th century.

There is a very long coda, in which the main themes of the movement are played in temporally compressed form. At the end the tempo is increased to presto. The symphony ends with 29 bars of C major chords, played fortissimo.

Textual question regarding repeats in the Third movement

In the autograph score (that is, the original version from Beethoven's hand), the third (scherzo) movement contains a repeat mark: when the main scherzo and the trio section have been played through, the performers are directed to return to the very beginning and play the two sections again. Then comes a third rendering of the scherzo, this time notated differently for pizzicato strings and transitioning directly to the finale (see description above). Most modern printed editions of the score do not render this repeat mark; and indeed most modern performances of the symphony render the movement as ABA' (where A = scherzo, B = trio, and A' = modified scherzo), in contrast to the ABABA' form of the autograph score.

The repeat mark in the autograph is unlikely to be an error on the composer's part. The ABABA' scheme for scherzi appears elsewhere in Beethoven, in Sixth and Seventh Symphonies and earlier in the Bagatelle for solo piano, Op. 33 no. 7 (1802). However, in the case of the Fifth Symphony it seems impossible to know what Beethoven's final intentions were. It is possible that, later on in his career, Beethoven came to prefer an ABA' performance. It is also possible the dropping of the repeat in early editions was a printing error that Beethoven failed to detect.

The first modern printed edition to print the repeat sign was prepared by Peter Gülke and issued by the Peters publishing house in 1978.

The choice of ABABA' vs. ABA' for the scherzo appears to be one for which individual conductors may exercise their judgment. The conductor Caroline Brown, in notes to her recorded ABABA' performance with the Hanover Band (Nimbus Records, #5007), writes:

Re-establishing the repeat certainly alters the structural emphasis normally apparent in this Symphony. It makes the scherzo less of a transitional make-weight, and, by allowing the listener more time to become involved with the main thematic motif of the scherzo, the side-ways step into the bridge passage leading to the finale seems all the more unexpected and extraordinary in its intensity.

Media

The following performance of the Fifth Symphony is by the Fulda Symphonic Orchestra (Fuldaer Symphonisches Orchester) under the direction of Simon Schindler. The recording is from a concert of March 10, 2000, performed in the Orangerie in Fulda, Germany. Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end

The symphony in popular culture

The Symphony, especially its opening, is familiar to audiences around the world. Not surprisingly given its fame, the Fifth Symphony has appeared frequently in popular culture.

The 5th Symphony has often been re-rendered into other genres of music—disco, techno, Rock and roll, and even a heavy metal rendition by Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. The rock band Electric Light Orchestra included the opening bars of the symphony as an introduction to their cover of Chuck Berry's Roll Over Beethoven. During the disco era of the 1970s, Walter Murphy created "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco version of the symphony which was featured in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Murphy's version was later used as the backing track for several other songs, such as "Enjoy Yourself" by rapper A+, and "When I Get You Alone" by Californian R&B artist Thicke (2002), with songwriting credits listed as "Walter Murphy / Robin Thicke".

In addition to its appearances in other music, it has also been referenced in film and literature. In Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange, Alex DeLarge, the main character, frequently listens to Beethoven. For Alex, the music is inexorably linked to his life of rape and murder; he places the Fifth Symphony above all other works. In the Kubrick cinematic version, Alex prefers the Ninth. The Symphony's first movement also appeared in several Disney movies. The first movement appears in the opening sequence to Fantasia 2000. As with the much earlier Disney Beethoven Sixth in the original Fantasia, the music was abridged. The animation depicts paper butterflies being chased by a storm of darker, evil paper bats. In Disney's Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, when Mickey is sent to prison, his best friends Goofy and Donald attempt to save him. At the last minute, Donald backs out (being the coward that he is portrayed to be). This scene is then accompanied by The Troubadour (the narrator of the story) singing the 5th Symphony with different lyrics. The starting lyric includes "This is the end!" Eventually, Donald joins Goofy in saving Mickey.

The work has also been referenced in more humorous ways. In one episode of The Simpsons, the residents of Springfield build a concert hall to make their town more cultural. Beethoven's 5th Symphony is played on the opening night, but after the first four notes have been played, the audience gets bored and leaves. When the conductor asks where everyone is going, Clancy Wiggum sneers, "Hey, we heard the 'Duh-duh-duh-dum' bit already, the rest is just filler." In another episode, Nelson as Beethoven adapted his customary laugh to the first four notes of the work. In Douglas Adams's 1979 novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Ford Prefect hums the symphony's first bar to a Vogon guard, in a last-ditch effort to persuade the guard to abandon his brutal ways; the attempt is unsuccessful, although Prefect evades imminent death by other means. In one episode of Animaniacs, The Warner Brothers and Sister visit Beethoven as chimney sweeps who hum the first few notes continuously, thus giving Beethoven the idea for his piece. (A glaring mistake here is that Beethoven would have been deaf around this time and thus would not have been able to hear the humming of the chimney sweeps.)

During World War II the BBC adopted the first four notes as the call sign of the European Service, principally because they represent the letter V for Victory in morse code. The irony that they were composed by a German was not lost on many of the audience.

Notes and references

1. ^ Schauffler, Robert Haven. Beethoven: The Man Who Freed Music. Doubleday, Doran, & Company. Garden City, New York. 1933; pg 211
2. Scherman, Thomas K, and Louis Biancolli. The Beethoven Companion. Double & Company. Garden City, New York. 1973; pg 575
3. ^ Solomon, Maynard. Beethoven. Collier Macmillian Publishers. London. 1977. Library of Congress #77-5242; pg 204
4. Lockwood, Lewis. Beethoven: The Music and the Life. W.W. Norton & Company. New York. ISBN 0393050815; pg 218
5. Kinderman, William. Beethoven. University of California Press. Berkeley, Los Angeles. 1995. ISBN 0520087968; pg 122
6. Parsons, Anthony. Symphonic birth-pangs of the trombone
7. Landon, H.C. Robbins. Beethoven: His Life, Work, and World. Thames and Hudson. New York City. 1992; pg 149
8. Moss, Charles K. Ludwig van Beethoven: A Musical Titan.
9. Rushton, Julian. The Music of Berlioz; pg 244
10. Bratby, Richard. Parts of Beethoven's symphony No.5
11. Jolly, Constance. Beethoven as I Knew Him; London: Faber and Faber, 1966; as translated from Schindler's 'Biographie von Ludwig van Beethoven', 1860
12. Cooper, Barry. The Beethoven Compendium, Ann Arbor, MI: Borders Press, 1991, ISBN 0-681-07558-9.; pg 52
13. ^ Scherman, Thomas K, and Louis Biancolli. The Beethoven Companion. Double & Company. Garden City, New York. 1973; pg 570
14. Classical Music Pages. Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No.5, Op.67
15. Scherman, Thomas K, and Louis Biancolli. The Beethoven Companion. Double & Company. Garden City, New York. 1973; pg 574
16. Wyatt, Henry. Mason Gross Presents - Program Notes: 14 June 2003. Mason Gross School of Arts.
17. Bromberger, Eric. Midori Program Notes. Washington Performing Arts Society. October 23, 2005
18. Bromberger, Eric. Program notes. San Diego Symphony Orchestra
19. Lockwood, Lewis. Beethoven: The Music and the Life. W.W. Norton & Company. New York. ISBN 0393050815; pg 222
20. Scherman, Thomas K, and Louis Biancolli. The Beethoven Companion. Double & Company. Garden City, New York. 1973; pg 572
21. Hopkins, Antony. The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven. Scolar Press, 1977. ISBN 1859282466.
22. Lockwood, Lewis. Beethoven: The Music and the Life. W.W. Norton & Company. New York. ISBN 0393050815; pg 223
23. Anecdote.com

External links

• General discussion and reviews of recordings
• Brief structural analysis
• Analysis of the Beethoven 5th Symphony, The Symphony of Destiny on the All About Ludwig van Beethoven Page
• Program notes for a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, D.D.
• A Century of New Music in Vienna - with photos, maps, and audio files

v t e Ludwig van Beethoven
List of compositions
Life	Birthplace Relationship with contemporaries Mozart Death Heiligenstadt Testament Immortal Beloved Concert of 22 December 1808
Music	Relationship with C minor Collected edition Musical style Compositional method Works catalogs WoO Biamonti Catalogue
Memorials	Beethoven Hall Beethovenhalle Beethoven House List of sculptures Berlin Bonn Mexico City New York and San Francisco
Depictions	Mähler's portraits Beethoven with the Manuscript of the Missa Solemnis Eroica (1949 film) Immortal Beloved (1994 film) Eroica (2003 film) Copying Beethoven (2006 film) Other films
Family	Johann (father) Maria (mother) Kaspar (brother) Johann (brother) Ludwig (grandfather) Johanna (sister-in-law) Karl (nephew)
Related	1815 Beethoven Birthplace of Beethoven's mother Beethoven Peninsula Beethoven quadrangle / Beethoven crater Beethoven Burst Beethoven Frieze Beethoven Project Trio Beethoven Quartet Society British première of Symphony No. 9 Eroica Peninsula Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies Three Bs
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